(CNN) - The role of President Barack Obama will be played by a different actor this season on the comedy program "Saturday Night Live," the show's head writer said Thursday.

In an interview on NBC's "Today Show," writer Seth Meyers acknowledged that Jay Pharoah, who is in his third year on the program, would be playing the president, while the actor who has played Obama since 2008, Fred Armisen, will continue on the show.FULL POST

Sterling, Virginia (CNN) - After Mitt Romney was knocked back on his heels for commenting on the diplomatic attacks in the Middle East before all of the facts were in, advisers to the GOP nominee said he has yet to receive national security briefings from the Obama administration.

But those briefings will begin next week, a campaign spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.FULL POST

Washington (CNNMoney) - Republicans used the Federal Reserve's announcement of a third round of stimulus to blast President Obama, saying the lackluster economic recovery he's overseen is behind the central bank's "artificial" and "ineffective" move.

Most Republicans, including the campaign of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, used the Fed's move to tout their main campaign message going into the Nov. 6 elections, that Obama's economic stewardship has failed.

(CNN) – Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took quick aim at new stimulus money announced Thursday by the Federal Reserve, calling the new attempt at spurring the nation's struggling economy a "sugar fix" designed for political gain.

It's the second rebuke in as many days from Palin, who late Tuesday took President Barack Obama to task for his handling of attacks on American diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya. She wrote on her Facebook page if Obama "doesn't have a 'big stick' to carry, maybe it's time for him to grow one."FULL POST

(CNN) - New polls released Thursday showed the battleground states of Colorado and Ohio remain statistically tied between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Likely voters in Ohio put Obama at 48% and Romney at 47%, and in Colorado, likely voters split 49% for Obama and 47% for Romney, according to the surveys by American Research Group. The sampling error of each survey was plus or minus 4 percentage points.FULL POST

Fairfax, Virginia (CNN) - Mitt Romney continued to portray President Obama as weak on foreign policy Thursday, though he did not repeat his harshest, direct criticisms from a day earlier during his first public event since four Americans were slain in Libya.

After expressing sympathy for the families of U.S. citizens killed in the Benghazi attacks, the GOP presidential candidate leveled an attack without mentioning the president's name.FULL POST